Fataawa of Shaikh al-Albaanee (رحمه الله)

Author: Shaikh Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaanee

Source: al-Asaalah Magazine Issues 1-21
Translator: Abu Maryam Isma’eel Alarcon

Published: Wednesday 29th July, 2015



Questions Related to the Family

  1. Question: What is the ruling concerning putting limitations to the amount of offspring one has?

    Answer: The person that limits his offspring without having a legitimate reason for doing so, I hold him to be foolish if not a disbeliever in the Qadaa and the Qadar (Divine Execution and Preordainment) of Allaah. This is since the individual that limits his progeny to only three children, for example, and he has reached the age of fifty (!), the thought of death does not even cross his mind, or that some violent storm should come and take the lives of his three children, thus leaving him till the end of his life as if he were barren and without offspring. Therefore, those that put limits to the amount of children they have, they do not reflect upon the things that every Muslim reflects on. And it is Al-Qadar (Preordainment), which befalls the people in the way that He wants, not in the way that they want. So this practice that is done in current times, is a severe negligence and a clear deprivation. [Al-Asaalah, Issue #2]



  2. Question: Does the ruling on birth control differ from that of family limitation (of offspring)?

    Answer: Birth control has some detail to it. Therefore, I say that this thing, which has come to be known as "birth control" is from that which the Muslims of today are being tested by in the lands of Islaam. However, there are cases from it, which must be referred back to the motive behind it. An example of this is when the motive for this birth control is based on a prescription from Muslim doctors who are advising the couple towards this so-called "birth control" to safeguard the health of the woman who has departed from her natural state due to her having delivered many children! So if a skilled Muslim doctor issues these instructions as a form of advice, then that becomes a legitimate excuse for (the allowance of) this birth control.

    This is an example in which birth control is permissible. As for an example that is contrary to this one, then it is such as when the motive behind it is due to poverty (!) or because of bills, which is always on the minds of the disbelievers!! So you can see one of them say: "My wife and I are two. And I have two children!! And the fifth member of them is their dog!! So this monthly pay that we receive is just enough for us (to pay our bills), and that's all [five]!"

    This is not permissible in Islaam because this motive emanates from the logic of the Days of Ignorance, which we were warned to avoid and stay away from. Such is found in Allaah's saying:

    "And do not kill your children for fear of poverty. We will provide you with sustenance as well as them." [Surah Al-Ana’aam: 151]


    This is especially the case since the Muslims believe that the child comes with his sustenance (already) with him. This is because, before it comes out into this world, its sustenance is ordained for it while it is in the womb of its mother, as has been clarified to us in the Noble Sunnah. So this example of birth control, with this motive, is not permissible at all. As for the baseless and false reasons that some people have used to justify and allow it, then they have no place in the Religion. [Al-Asaalah, Issue #2]


  3. Question: Is it permissible for a man to take from the wealth of his father in order to use it in his business affairs, while knowing that his father deals with interest-based banks?

    Answer: The obligation upon every individual that has reached the age in which he is able to distinguish right from wrong is that he must make intense and quick efforts to free himself from using or consuming wealth that comes from interest. But he may take from it so long as he stands in need for it, out of necessity. As for using this forbidden money to spend it on luxurious things and in order to live comfortably, then it is not permissible for him to use the money in this way. And Allaah knows best. [Al-Asaalah, Issue #1]


  4. Question: I am a young man who has not finished studying, and my father is a rich man who deals with interest (ribaa) as well as other types of forbidden business. What should be my stance in this situation, especially if it is my father who spends money on me, even though I have explained to him many times that interest is Haraam (forbidden), but to no avail?

    Answer: Indeed these studies, which the questioner has indicated are by no means from the obligatory matters. Rather it is only a means that leads to obtaining provision in these days. So if it is the case that he lives under the shelter of his father, and he knows for certain that his father deals with interest, then it is upon him to undertake all the possible means by which he can free himself from this way of living that is established upon sin, even if it leads to him having to abandon his studies, since this type of study in itself, is not an individual obligation. And it is upon him to strive hard towards earning lawful provision, by working his hands off and causing his forehead to sweat. This is better for him and more lasting.

    So depending on the ability of the questioner, the studies should be left off, even temporarily, and he should make an effort to find sustenance for himself, which would be modest enough for him, and through which he can free himself from his father having to spend on him.

    And if he is forced while not desiring it, meaning (he is forced) to live under the sustenance of his father, then he should not go to great extents in his requesting of money. Rather, he must only take according to the extent that will be enough for him to survive on, pay his necessary expenses and which will free him from begging people. [Al-Asaalah, Issue #10]


 

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